Not even the surest surgeon's hand is quite as steady and consistent as a robotic arm built of metal and plastic, programmed to perform the same motions over and over. So could it handle the slippery stuff of soft tissues during a surgery?
Tech
WASHINGTON -- Researchers have developed a new light-based technique that selectively stiffens tissue in the cornea and might one day offer improved treatment for eye problems caused by weakened corneal tissue.
In The Optical Society's journal for high impact research, Optica, the researchers detail their new technique for strengthening the cornea by precisely crosslinking the collagen fibers that make up corneal tissue. They also demonstrate a specialized microscopy approach that measures tissue stiffness without disturbing untreated areas.
Radio frequency emission are considered incidental system noise in virtually all laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices, but scientists at Disney Research have found a way to use these spurious electromagnetic (EM) signals to uniquely identify even seemingly identical devices.
Their method, called EM-ID, can differentiate in most cases between devices of the same make and model.
In a cross-national study of what European schools are doing to support student mental health and well-being, 47% of surveyed schools indicated that mental health provision is a high/essential priority, but more than half did not implement a school policy regarding mental health.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 3, 2016 - Since lasers were invented more than 50 years ago, they have transformed a diverse swath of technology -- from CD players to surgical instruments.
Now researchers from France and Hungary have invented a way to print lasers that's so cheap, easy and efficient they believe the core of the laser could be disposed of after each use. The team reports its findings in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing.
Scientists from the Light-Matter Interactions Unit, led by Professor Síle Nic Chormaic at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), have developed a new technique to fabricate glass microlasers and tune them using compressed air. The new technique, published in Scientific Reports, could pave the way for the simple serial production of glass microlasers and could be used in a wide range of applications, such as optical communications, chemical or biosensing.
The new method is a clever combination of an established industrial production technique (thermoforming) and a new software, which allows even ambitious amateurs to produce individual pieces or small batches of objects with structurally complex and coloured surfaces quickly and cheaply. The researchers have just described their method in a scientific publication, which will be presented at the ACM SIGGRAPH 2016.
Research at TU Eindhoven, KU Leuven and the University of Liege has shown how a motorcyclist riding right behind a racing cyclist can reduce the air resistance for the cyclist by almost nine percent. In a time trial, such as this Friday's forthcoming prologue in the Giro (Tour of Italy) in Apeldoorn, this could mean a decisive advantage. The researchers advise the UCI (International Cycling Union) to extend the minimum distance between motorcycle and cyclist, also from a safety perspective, to 20 or 30 meters.
Researchers at the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, studied 518 children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) who underwent bone scans at nine, 15 and 17 years old. Measurements such as thickness, volume and weight, were also taken from the mothers' placenta.
The Southampton group, working with colleagues at the University of Bristol, found that greater placental size at birth was associated with larger bones at each age in childhood.
Ultrasound-estimated percent intramuscular fat of muscles in the lower extremity was inversely associated with physical activity level and positively associated with body mass index in a recent study.
Ultrasound is advantageous because it is less costly and more accessible when compared with other imaging technologies.
The Muscle & Nerve study included 42 participants (16 men, 26 women) between the ages of 19 and 68 years, with a wide range of body mass index and physical activity levels.
Smartphones and tablets come from Asia and the USA, German and European industry is far behind. The causes are dealt with by a study of KIT published in the journal Telecommunications Policy. According to this study, risk aversion made the companies offer own data services at a high price instead of using the open internet. Competitive pressure by Europe-wide granting of mobile telephone licenses or the deregulation of the radio spectrum might improve the situation. Computers protected against the manipulation of data also open up market chances.
North Carolina State University researchers have developed and used a customized suite of technologies that allows a computer to train a dog autonomously, with the computer effectively responding to the dog based on the dog's body language.
"Our approach can be used to train dogs efficiently and effectively," says David Roberts, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work. "We use sensors in custom dog harnesses to monitor a dog's posture, and the computer reinforces the correct behavior quickly and with near-perfect consistency."
After launch in June 2012, Carat has helped over 850,000 users, of which 41 percent have been Android and 59 percent iOS users, respectively. The new user interface follows modern application design guidelines and presents battery information in a more intuitive and easy to use manner.
In addition to the new user interface, we have increased the accuracy of the energy saving recommendations of Carat, says Professor Sasu Tarkoma, the leader of this research done at the university.
They thereby demonstrated that this class of materials is suitable for data processing based on spin. The work has been published in the renowned periodical Physical Review B and was selected as "Editor's Suggestion" article.
Firefighters entering burning buildings, athletes competing in the broiling sun and workers in foundries may eventually be able to carry their own, lightweight cooling units with them, thanks to a nanowire array that cools, according to Penn State materials researchers.
"Most electrocaloric ceramic materials contain lead," said Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering. "We try not to use lead. Conventional cooling systems use coolants that can be environmentally problematic as well. Our nanowire array can cool without these problems."